Toothed wheel pipe-joint breaking tool



.1. T. SIMMONS TOOTHED WHEEL PIPE-JOINT BREAKING TOOL Dec. 3, 1957 Filed Dec. 28, 1955 w m w m JE E TH MAs SIMMONS JKTT ORN EIY United States Patent TOOTHED WHEEL PIPE-JOINT BREAKING TOOL Jesse Thomas Simmons, Chattanooga, Tenn. Application December 28, 1953, Serial No. 400,487

2 Claims. (Cl. 15104.03)

This-invention relates to a tool for performing different operations upon pipes, and metal pipes in particular.

An object of my invention is to devise a tool which may be used either as a pipe cutter or as a pipe expander.

My novel tool is designed especially for removing exhaust-mufflers from automotive vehicles, such as automobiles, trucks, and tractors.

The removal of an exhaust muffler from a vehicle which has been in usefor a considerable time involves a rather difiicult operation. First, the mufll'er is not easily accessible, and there is very limited space available for the insertion and operation of the necessary tool todisconnect the muffler fromthe exhaust pipe connected to the engine and from the tail pipe connected to the opposite end of the mufller.

In automotive trucks and tractors, two systems are commonly in use for mounting the muffier. In one system the exhaust pipe from the engine is welded to the inlet sleeve at the front end of the mufller, and the tail pipe slips over a short outlet sleeve at the rear end of the muffler. According to the second system, the end of the exhaust pipe leading from the engine fits into (or over) a short intake sleeve at the front end of the muffler and the. front end of the tail pipe fits into (or over) a. short outlet sleeve at the rear end of the mulfier. With either system, the slip joints between the exhaust pipe section and the sleeves on the muiller become frozen or tightly jointed after the mufiler has been in use for sometime. The freezing of the joint is due to various causes, including the rusting of the contacting surfaces, and possibly the expansion of the inner pipe or sleeve with respect to the outer sleeve or pipe. Regardless of the cause, the slip joint becomes so tight that it is impossible to disconnect the muffler from the adjacent exhaust pipe section by the use of an ordinary pipe wrench, and it has been customary to either split the end of the pipe which fits into or over the sleeve projecting from the muflier, or else to cut off the section of the exhaust pipe which fits into or over the sleeve. Of course, in case the exhaust pipe section is welded to the mufiler sleeve, it becomes necessary to sever the exhaust pipe from the sleeve, and one common device used for this purpose is a welding torch. Experience has shown that where the front exhaust pipe section is welded to the intake muffier sleeve and the tail pipe section is slipped into or over the outlet muffier sleeve, it requires about one hour in time to remove a muffler by the use of a welding torch for cutting off the front exhaust pipe section and for splitting oil? the tail pipe section by a special chisel.

A specific object of my invention is to devise a single tool which may be employed for the removal of a mutfier which has been installed according to either system described above and in a considerably shorter time than that required by methods now in use. For example, by the use of my combination tool, it is possible to remove a mufiler in less than five minutes.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the combination tool assembled as a pipe cutter, the major portion of the handle being shown in section;

Figure 2 is atop view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the head portion 5 of the tool showing the assembly for use as a pipe ex pander.

Referring to the drawing, the tool is formed of an elongated shank 2 of square section throughout the major portion of its length and having a threaded round section 2a at one end thereof. At the other end of the shank a jaw 3 is rigidly secured to the shank and extends at right angles thereto. A movable jaw 4 is arranged parallel with the fixed jaw 3 and is mounted upon a sleeve 5 provided with a square bore for receiving the square portion of the shank 2 and being slidable along this portion of the shank. The sleeve 5 is provided with a circular counterbore 5a in the lower end thereof for receiving one end of a tubular handle 6 formed of round tubular stock. The end of handle 6 is free to turn within the counterbore 5a but is held against axial movement therein by means of a pin 7 threaded through the outer wall of the counterbore and extending into an annular groove 6a formed in the portion of the handle 6 within the counter bore 5a. The handle 6 has a threaded connection with the shank 2 by means of a nut 6b threaded upon theshank portion 2a and being secured within the handle 6' near the lower end thereof. By this arrangement turning of the handle 6 about the axis of the shank 2 causes the movable jaw 4 to move towards or away from the fixed jaw'3'.

Each of the jaws 3 and 4 is bifurcated, that is, each jaw i's formed of two parallel arms arranged on opposite sidesof the shank 2. As shown in Figure 2, the fixed jaw'3 is formed oftwo arms 3 and 3" extending in parallel' relation from opposite sides of the shank 2, and the movable jaw 4' is formed in a similar manner. Fixed jaw 3' is provided with a pair of transverse bores at spaced points along itslength for receiving pins 8 and 9 which form axles for a pair of circular pipe cutting blades 10: and 11. Movable jaw 4 is also provided with a pair of transverse bores for receiving pins 12 and 13 which form axles for circular pipe-cutting blades 14- and 15,- The pipe-cutting blades 10, 11, 14 and 15 are of conventional" construction and preferably are all of the same size. Also, the bores for receiving the pins 8, 9, 12 and 13 are spaced apart so that when the blades are in operative cutting position in contact with a pipe, the pins are equally spaced angularly about the axis of the pipe. By this arrangement, the cutting operation may be performed by swinging the handle through an angle of approximately to degrees, whereas in the case of the usual pipe cutter provided with only three cutting blades, it is necessary to swing the handle through an angle varying from approximately to degrees. Thus, my tool when used as a pipe cutter can be used in a smaller or more limited space than the conventional three-blade cutter.

One of the jaws of the tool, for example, jaw 4, is pro vided with another transverse bore 16 formed approximately midway between the bores for the pins 12 and 13 for converting the tool for use as a pipe expander.

When the tool is to be used for uncoupling a frozen slip joint between a section of the exhaust pipe and a sleeve on one end of the mufiler, the pipe cutters are removed by removing the pins 8, 9, 12 and 13, and the cutters 10 and 11 are replaced by toothed rollers 17 and 18 which are journalled upon the pins 8 and 9 respectively. A single toothed roller 19 is journalled within the movable jaw 4 by a pin 20 mounted in the bore 16. The rollers 17 to 19 are of generally cylindrical form and are provided with hardened pointed teeth which bite into the outer surface of the pipe as they roll freely over the outer surface of the pipe. The rollers are forced against the pipe under pressure by turning the handle portion 6. The action of the toothed rollers upon the pipe is to expand the end of the pipe operated upon by the roller, and without splitting the pipe. The action of the rollers is such that the outer pipe tends to creep around the inner pipe, and this action ultimately breaks and pulverizes the rust formation in the frozen joint between the two overlapping pipes. The action is not fully understood because I find that while three rollers mounted as described above are effective in freeing a tight joint, the same result cannot be obtained by the use of four rollers arranged in the same positions as the four pipe-cutting blades. The action of four rollers seems to contract the outer pipe instead of expanding it. One possible explanation of the difference in action in the two cases is that in the case of three rollers, there is more transverse distortion of the pipe as the handle of the tool is oscillated than in the case of four rollers, and the alternate flattening and buckling of different areas of the pipe breaks'the bond between the telescoping sections.

When using the tool as an expander, it is not necessary that the rollers pass completely over the circumference of the pipe but the joint can be broken by swinging the handle through an arc of only about 90 degrees. Thus, when the tool is used for either purpose, the angular swing of the handle need not exceed 90 degrees by any substantial amount.

While my improved tool has been described for use'in removing an exhaust muffler from an automotive vehicle, it is obvious that it is not limited to this particular use and is useful generally as a pipe cutter and a tool for breaking frozen joints of telescoping pipe sections.

I claim:

1. A tool for breaking a frozen joint between telescoping pipe sections comprising a shank, a first jaw rigidly mounted upon one end of said shank and extending at right angles thereto, a slide mounted upon said shank, a second jaw carried by said slide and extending parallel to said first jaw, cooperating adjusting means on the shank and slide to selectively vary the spacing between the jaws, three cylindrical rollers each having hardened, pointed teeth arranged in parallel relation around the peripheral surface thereof, said pointed teeth being formed parallel with the axis of the roller, means rotatably supporting two of said rollers upon one of said jaws for rotation about parallel axes located at different distances from said shank, and a pin removably supported in a bore formed transversely through the other jaw for rotatably supporting the third roller upon said other jaw for rotation about an axis parallel with the axes of said two rollers and located at a distance from said shank substantially mid-way between said two rollers, said three rollers being mounted to have contact at their toothed peripheries with the outer pipe section of said telescoping sections at points substantially equally spaced about the perimeter of said outer pipe, and being free to roll over the surface of said outer pipe upon the swinging of said shank about the axis of said pipe section, and said other jaw having two transverse bores formed therein on opposite sides of said pin for receiving bearing pins of the same diameter as said pin.

2. A tool for breaking a frozen joint between telescoping pipe sections comprising a pair of jaws arranged in parallel relation, means mounting said jaws for movement towards and away from each other while maintaining said parallel relation, three cylindrical rollers each having hardened, pointed teeth arranged in parallel relation around the peripheral surface thereof, said pointed teeth being formed parallel with the axis of the roller, means rotatably supporting two of said rollers upon one of said jaws for rotation about parallel axes located at different distances from said shank, and means rotatably supporting the third roller upon the other jaw for rotation about an axis parallel with the axes of said two rollers and located at a distance from said shank substantially mid-way between said two rollers, said three rollers being mounted to have contact at their toothed peripheries with the outer pipe section of said telescoping sections at points substantially equally spaced about the perimeter of said outer pipe, and being free to roll over the surface of said outer pipe upon rotation of said jaws about the axis of said pipe section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 893,369 Radtke July 14, 1908 1,414,668 Reed May 2, 1922 1,448,877 Smith Mar. 20, 1923 1,449,486 Anton Mar. 27, 1923 1,774,123 Anderson Aug. 26, 1930 2,149,541 Nagle Mar. 7, 1939 2,153,863 Fall Apr. 11, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 80,268 Switzerland Feb. 17, 1919 486,758 Germany Nov. 25, 1929 891,150 France Nov. 29, 1943 

